Movies I've seen recently

Crank : High Voltage (2009)  C+

The first "Crank" had lots of violence, gratuitous sex, vulgarity, plus a preposterous story, and "Crank : High Voltage" succeeds as a sequel by unbelievably doubling all of that (not necessarily for the better). Jason Statham once again plays Chev Chelios, who through sheer will or audacity just does not die, and now this time he has an artificial heart that needs to be charged with electricity to keep him alive. Part of the entertainment with the movie is watching the creative ways in how he charges his heart, from jumping it like a car battery, putting a taser on himself, to creating static electricity from sexual friction. If all that sounds stupid, well it's because the creative minds behind this movie clearly isn't treating it seriously. It's stupid sure, but stupid fun, just make sure to check your brain at the door when watching this. "Crank : High Voltage" is like a mindless cartoon or video game for adults, except it's live-action.

Duplicity (2009)  B+

When watching "Duplicity," it's very important to really pay attention to what's happening on screen. From the flashbacks that reveal more about Clive Owen's and Julia Roberts' characters, to the details involving the secret work of the corporations they work for. Writer/Director Tony Gilroy does an excellent job juggling all the characters and plot points to make an interesting but complicated yet still cohesive story. The heart of "Duplicity" is of course the odd relationship between Ray (Owen) and Claire (Roberts), who are born spies in nature that want to but can't trust each other completely (makes for some funny moments though). I did find it a little funny that the corporate espionage work as shown in the movie can be so "life and death serious" as if it was a real war, and that's part of the film's charm.

Monsters vs Aliens (2009)  B-

First and foremost, "Monsters vs Aliens" is definitely worth watching in it's 3D format, because it's like being in an attraction for a theme park. Without the 3D effects however, the movie's flaws and shallowness stands out a bit more. The story itself is simple enough but amusing, and some of the comedic scenes are pretty funny (mostly involving B.O.B.). The strength of the movie definitely comes from it's characters that plays on the B-movie monster flicks from "the blob" to "attack of the giant woman." Some jabs at pop culture, exaggerations about the government and military, to a scene where playing Dance Dance Revolution helps solve a puzzle, "Monsters vs Aliens" is just a decently fun movie to watch, but nothing groundbreaking.

Stomp The Yard (2007)  C

Out of all the movies out there that feature a lot of dancing, does "Stomp the Yard" stand out in anyway? No not really. The story and characters and the plot predicaments from the underdog story to the love interest is pretty much been there done that. Despite the cliche nature of it all and some cheesy dialogue, this is still a relatively harmless and enjoyable movie to past the time. If anything else, the characters showing their skills "stomping the yard" (stepping) is worth watching the movie.

How Many of Your Needs Are Being Met? One of Your Needs is Being Met

Need being met: Physiological needs Needs not being met: Safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization needs Believe it or not, you are only taking care of your biological needs right now. You are getting enough sleep, food, water, and shelter to survive. To truly thrive, you'll have to feel safer.. whether it's financially or physically safer. Assess your current situation, and do what you can to get yourself out of danger. After that, the world is yours!

What I've been listening to lately...

1) Meg & Dia - here, here and here
2) Queensryche - american soldier
3) Silverstein - a shipwreck in the sand
4) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - it's blitz!
5) Alanis Morissette - flavors of entanglement
6) Metallica - dave em all

Swine Flu! Outbreak! Pandemic! 149 dead already! So should we all be very concerned about swine flu? No more than we are concerned about the regular flu actually. I know hearing about this flu in the news makes it sound really bad, but there is no reason for people to be panicking.

Some myths and facts about the swine flu...
- Eating pork is as safe as it's always been. You do not have to ban pork.
- The swine flu spreads just like regular flu, so continue to avoid sick people who cough or sneeze or shake hands. You may want to wash your hands often.
- Respiratory masks do not give 100% protection from any flu. I'm sure it'll help a little bit though.
- Symptoms for the swine flu is like getting the traditional flu. Fever, muscle aches, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, diarrhea, and vomiting.  From what I heard, the symptoms appear a lot quicker though (anybody wanna confirm?).
- Feel free to avoid going to Mexico for the time being (be more concerned about the drug wars there).
- It also has to be pointed out that there IS treatment for the swine flu. Just get it before you start having pneumonia.

So go about your day, avoid sick people like you normally would, and stay home when you are sick. Swine flu is just yet another sickness to worry about, and it's not going to be as bad as some people are making it out to be (sure it could get worse, but c'mon). There's also the West Nile Virus to look out for you know.

More info can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

P.S. What's funny is that while I'm posting this, I sneezed a little, coughed a little, and am feeling a little light headed. Dunh Dunh Dunh!

Never Walk Away Random

Slum Wow (video)

Llamas with Hats (video)

The Clan (video)

Beat Box kid (video)

There's an App for That (video)

Learning Guitar to Get Laid (video)

Your Business Card is Crap (video)

One night stand (video)

Cat Found Prank (video)

Pay attention..... (video)

The "big blockbuster movie" season starts this coming Friday, and it's time to really go back to the movie theaters again. It's still called the "summer movie season," but since it starts in the Spring season, should we really continue calling it that? So at least one big movie to see every weekend, a good excuse to hang out with friends once a week. Now what do we have coming up...

5/1 - X-Men Origins : Wolverine
5/8 - Star Trek
5/15 - Angels & Demons
5/22 - Terminator : Salvation
6/5 - Land of the Lost
6/12 - the Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
6/19 - Year One
6/24 - Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen

heh, I thought Transformers had the July 4 weekend, but I guess that's suppose to go to Ice Age and Public Enemies (I guess Revenge of the Fallen will be no.1 two weeks in a row). Also I thought it was odd that the big movie for the second week of June is the Taking of Pelham 123, which quite honestly feels more like a fall movie to me.

So Meg & Dia is having a small "Hot Topic" acoustic tour and autograph signing plus meet & greet thing happening in May. This ofcourse is part of the promotional machine to boost sales on their newest album "here, here and here." Now, the meet and greet autograph signing portion of this tour isn't that big of an issue for me, since for the most part I've meet-ed and greet-ed with them tons of times in the past already. It's the acoustic performance that I want to see, but because it's an "in-store" concert, space is going to be very limited. It's so limited that they are currently only allowing 30 people to see each show. Those guaranteed thirty people who get to see the show, are the first 30 who bought their newest CD or t-shirt from a particular Hot Topic store that they'll be performing at. There will be 170 additional passes that they'll be handing out as well, which will act as a "stand by ticket," but will primarily be what is needed for the meet & greet.

This past Friday morning, I went to bed at 5AM after coming home from work, and I was woken up by my friend at 10AM to remind me that I was going to the Hot Topic in Arcadia, CA to pick up the pass. From the time I was ready to leave, driving about 20 miles West to get there (not to mention getting lost as well), we unfortunately ended up being number 42 and 43 on the list. So we're guaranteed a meet & greet, but will only be on the stand by list for the show. Tough break, but I have another stop to make.

Next Hot Topic I was going to try my luck was in Irvine, CA, and it's about a 50 miles South drive from where I was just at. A little traffic held me back a little, but I eventually made it there a little over an hour later. Luckily, I was able to get the much sought after "golden wristband" that guarantees a spot for the acoustic show. Yes! One out of Two isn't bad at all.

So that was about 3-4 hours of my time, and over 100 miles of driving, just so I can see Meg & Dia once again. I now also have three copies of the new album (pre-ordered CD/DVD, release date CD, and Hot Topic CD), plus a Meg & Dia t-shirt that I will give to my wife (they only had girl's shirts). Oh wait, I did give one of my copies to my cousin, so I only have one extra CD of the album.

I really am a fanboy I suppose, because that's pure dedication right? I swear, the lengths that I would go to for one of my all time favorite bands...

The Kids Don't Stand a Random Chance

Facebook Manners And You (video)

personal soundtrack t-shirt (video)

Snakes On A Plane - TV edit (video)

Totally Normal Japanese Commercial (video)

The Image is the Sound (video)

hot chick lightsaber fight (video)

Untopical Man on the Street 2 (video)

How to Booby Trap a Water Bottle (video)

White Wedding: Literal Video Version (video)

Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch (link)

uh oh, I may actually have a problem with my Blackberry Storm. It just might be a defective unit. This isn't about complaining about the surepress screen (won "Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough" at the GSMA by the way), or how the Storm hogs up a lot of memory, or the many other things that people love to complain about the phone. My issues are a little bit more legitimate. Apparently there are a couple of hardware issues that happens with some people's Blackberry Storm, the "dust getting underneath screen" issue (which theoritically happens due to how the surepress screen is designed), and the "micro SD card reader doesn't work anymore" issue. I have both problems. Correction I have the dust under the screen issue but the micro SD card reader is working again, so I'm one of two at the moment.

Supposedly, some verizon stores will offer an exchange with a new Storm if you report the dust under screen issue, while some will deny that it's the phone's fault. From what I've read, RIM doesn't have an official stance on the issue, which doesn't help us Storm owners, but hopefully will be addressed upon the inevitable release of the Storm 2. Some people don't even bother looking for Verizon or RIM to solve the issue, and have taken it upon themselves to get rid of the dust under the screen (search youtube). As for me, while the dust is there, it's not a huge issue for me... yet. I'm gonna wait it out until a better solution is available.

As far as the card reader issue, the fact that it is currently working is good news for me. My problem now is that I'm not going to want to remove the microSD card from my phone ever again. The problem might just happen once more if I take it out, so I'd rather avoid the issue.

I still like the Blackberry Storm, and don't see myself NOT owning it despite my issues. My recommendation for everybody else who might still be considering getting the Storm, is to just wait. The next version should be out sooner than you expect, and hopefully by then they'll have fixed some of these issues us early adopters are experiencing.

How Warm Are You? You Are Lukewarm

You feel open and generous sometimes, but you don't always feel like being friendly. You're not naturally outgoing or curious about people. Being around others drains your resources. So considering how you feel, you're actually quite warm. You do your best. And you often find it easy to be warm toward the people you like the most.

What I've been listening to lately...

1) Meg & Dia - here, here and here
2) Depeche Mode - sounds of the universe
3) Gavin DeGraw - free
4) Mastodon - crack the skye
5) the Ting Tings - we started nothing
6) Metallica - garage inc (disc 2)

Artist : Meg & Dia
Album : Here, Here and Here
Label : Sire Records, Warner Music Group
Original Release Date : April 21, 2009
- RECOMMENDED LISTENING -

"Meg & Dia" finally released their much anticipated album "Here, Here and Here." This will be their second album under a major label (Warner Bros Records) following their 2006 release of "Something Real" (the album that made me a huge fan of theirs). Counting their self-published album "Our Home Is Gone," this will actually be their third album in their relatively young career as a band. While their previous album "Something Real" was based mostly on novels they've read, their new album is a lot more in the introspective fashion, but it should be pointed out that a song like "Hug Me" is in fact based off the book "Brave New World." As a singer-songwriting duo, Meg & Dia is definitely in the indie-alternative rock genre of music, and many fans were concerned that this release will mark their turn in attempting to be more accessible by becoming more mainstream pop rock (read : "sell outs"). Those fans don't have to worry about their integrity because based on the songs themselves, it's easy to tell that they did not purposefully try to make it more appropriate to a mass audience.

What makes Meg & Dia "Meg & Dia" is still present in "Here, Here and Here." Dia's singing voice in itself is unique enough to define the band, and she shows her talents in a song like "Inside My Head" where she can sing normally, quietly, yelling, to what sounds almost like rapping (immediate sounding singing?). Their habit to change a few words of the chorus each time it's sang to give it variety is still present, which can be found in the song "What if." The heavy use of poetic writing and metaphors are still there, as the song "Black Wedding" shows. Their use of a piano is still being implemented in their songs, like in "Kiss You Goodnight." Their nice simple rock melodies will also never leave the band, as heard in the opening song "Going Away." Even though Dia is the primary singer, Meg also contributes her voice, especially by singing the main verses of "The Last Great Star In Hollywood." While on that subject, vocal harmonies in choruses is still a staple for the band, which can be heard in the song "One Sail."

"Here, Here and Here" is produced by Howard Benson (The All-American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Flyleaf) and the one main thing that a fan will notice is that this album is the "most produced" out of all their albums. It's debateable as to whether this is a good thing or bad thing, because some die hard fans don't like it when the songs sound too reliant to "studio magic." This album has a lot more vocal layerings, where verses overlap, and can be found in a song like "Fighting For Nothing." They've even allowed a song to include a male singer, with Tom Higgenson of the "Plain White T's" doing a duet with Dia on the song "Bored Of Your Love." Another thing new for the band are the use of additional instruments like the percussion work that can be found in "Are There Giants too, In the Dance," the harmonica in "Agree to Disagree" that gives it a somewhat country sound, and even violins that work beautifully with the title track "Here, Here and Here."

The album itself has fast become a personal favorite of mine (like their last one - go figure), although I do have a few concerns. "Going Away" is a good easy listening song, but I thought they should have chosen something more in your face rock and roll as the opener for the album, like maybe "Black Wedding" or "What If." Some of the studio "trickery" like vocal distortions in "Are There Giants too, In the Dance" seem unnecessary to me, and the vocal layering can be annoying at times, especially if I want to sing along to the song. I'm also disappointed that the album sounds like it's a victim of the "loudness war" as well. Those are relatively minor complaints though, and I'm glad that I'm finding the album to be full of really strong tracks to add to their growing catalog of songs. 

As I mentioned earlier, this album's statement was to be more about the point of views of Meg and Dia, and it really does sound very personal to who they are, what they believe, and what they feel. As Dia mentioned in her blog post the other day, they do not hold back on what they want to say, whether it be about religion ("Black Wedding"), politics ("Are There Giants too, In the Dance"), love ("One Sail"), vanity ("The Last Great Star in Hollywood"), or death ("Kiss You Goodnight"). Two particular songs that I quickly grew attached to are "Fighting For Nothing" and "Here, Here and Here." "Fighting For Nothing" inspires me to try and overcome the many challenges in life, especially when things start feeling hopeless, and reminds me that dreams can come true if you try hard enough. The song also reminds me that dreams more often than not get sidelined when you stay on a path that leads to nowhere... or nothing. "Here, Here and Here" is actually quite the melancholy song, because it reflects who Meg & Dia is as a touring band, in that they have a lot of rewards for the life they live, but at the same time they aren't completely happy for not living a more "normal" life anymore with their family and friends. All they have left is to create music that compels them to keep moving forward, to satisfy their fans who love what their songs mean to them personally, who love what their songs stand for, and who love how their songs sound. Heart, mind, and ears indeed.

I'm glad that Meg & Dia continue to speak what's on their mind, because even though the subject matter of these songs is about them, they still come off feeling quite personal to who I am, what I believe, and what I feel as well. "Here, Here and Here" has a very diverse set of songs for the Meg & Dia band, and clearly they are still growing musically, but at least it's for the better.

Choice songs to listen to : "Fighting For Nothing," "Here Here and Here," "Hug Me," "Kiss You Goodnight," and "One Sail."

The story of "Here, here and here" - by Dia (link)